State employee faces theft charge

The wife of a state employee arrived home in her minivan on the day before Thanksgiving to a street full of television cameras and Washington State Patrol detectives pulling boxes of fire alarms out of her north Spokane home.

Earlier Wednesday, her husband, Richard Leeth, was informed that the WSP intends to charge him with first-degree theft in connection with surplus fire alarms he allegedly took from work and sold for a profit on eBay, Detective Ron Snowden said.

Leeth, 45, had been working as an electronics technician for Consolidated Support Services, which provides technical support for the campuses of Eastern State Hospital and Lakeland Village in Medical Lake.

Snowden said he and another detective approached Leeth on Wednesday about their five-month investigation into missing fire alarms from those facilities.

“Initially he denied it,” Snowden said. “Then I showed him eBay printouts, and he admitted everything.”

As Snowden interviewed Leeth in Medical Lake, several other WSP detectives kicked down Leeth’s front door at 7206 Mahr Court to serve a search warrant.

As they hauled out boxes of red fire alarm switches, bells and computers, Leeth’s wife arrived home. She left without offering comment.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Snowden said. “He’s had some financial trouble, and he’s trying to put food on the table.”

During the interview, Leeth – who has no previous criminal record – told Snowden he believed the surplus fire alarm equipment was destined to be thrown away. He didn’t see any harm in taking it home, Snowden said.

“It started with surplus equipment. Then he started taking stuff that was new and still in the package,” Snowden said. “He knew it was wrong. He said so.”

Officials with eBay helped the WSP detectives with the case. They estimated that Leeth earned about $5,500 from selling the items through online auctions from August 2003 to Wednesday.

“It was not a huge crime scheme to get rich. But unfortunately, he will probably lose his job for about $5,000,” Snowden said.

Leeth’s boss, Terry LaFrance, said Leeth has been working for Consolidated Support Services since 1998. Leeth has been placed on paid administrative leave until the investigation is complete, LaFrance said.

“Basically, he told me that he did it,” LaFrance said of Leeth. “I think it’s unfortunate. Some people make bad decisions.”

Neighbor Joe Dill, 63, said he talked with Leeth about selling the alarm equipment.

“What he told me was the stuff he sells is what they are throwing in the garbage,” Dill said. “I’m totally surprised. They just seem like extremely nice people.”

Dill watched WSP Detective E.J. Swainson kick in Leeth’s door.

“I think it was a little overkill,” Dill said. “They probably could have waited until he came home … rather than bringing an entourage of a police force.”

Snowden said the search warrant was necessary to seize Leeth’s computer before it could be altered. He was not booked into jail.

“I did feel bad for him,” Snowden said of Leeth. “But you could also tell that it took a lot of weight off his shoulders to tell the truth.”